Truth or Dare
by T.S. Blue
Summary: Unexpected idle time leads the boys to revisiting a childhood game. Complete.


_Ever since I announced my "retirement," I seem to be more prolific, huh? Let that be a lesson to me. If only I knew what the lesson was! _

_This one is less of a snapshot, more of a portrait. I actually had to get my subjects to sit still long enough for me to write this one. And they don't like sit still, not those Dukes. Which I don't own, and who never earn me any money._

_Cheers!_

* * *

"No way, Luke!"

"Come on, Bo," The older of the two cousins argued. "We ain't got much time!"

Looking up, the blonde was forced to agree. While the sky had been a series of shifting gray hues for more than an hour, now there was a purplish, bruised looking patch that was approximately overhead. The wind was gusty and the flies were suddenly biting, a sure sign of imminent rain on a July afternoon.

Keeping his tone casual, Bo answered, "No, I guess we ain't."

Capitol City hadn't been the younger Duke boy's first choice of a place to spend a rare afternoon off, anyway. He'd been picturing an hour the Boar's Nest, followed by another three or four hours down by Hazzard Pond with some fried chicken, a blanket, and oh yeah, a girl apiece. But Luke had half-convinced and half-tricked him into this little road trip. Now that the weather was turning on them, Bo resolved to himself that enough was enough. After all, they were here at Luke's chosen destination, and Bo wasn't going to be cajoled by his cousin into doing even one more thing that he didn't want to.

"Aw, Bo. It ain't even like you wanted to come in the first place…"

Taking a leaf from his older cousin's book, the blonde stayed silent, treating Luke to a single raised eyebrow.

As if to up the ante on behalf of the dark-haired Duke, the sky began to leak. Only a few droplets fell at first, but they were large, splattering the gray concrete on which the boys stood, and splashing on heads and shoulders.

"It ain't like you got anything better to do!" Luke tried once more. "Dang it!" he finally yelled, as the sky broke open with such a rush that the boys could no longer tell whether the rain was coming at them from above or below.

Luke turned and sprinted the block and a half to the boys' prized, and come to think of it, only possession, the General Lee. Grabbing hold of the roof with an unaccustomed right hand, he slid into the driver's seat and began turning the window crank as fast as he could. Trusting his left hand to take care of the nearest window, Luke turned to his right, and as he extended his other arm towards the passenger window crank, he was surprised to be kicked by his incoming cousin's boot.

"Bo!" he yelled, as the youngster plopped into the seat next to him, then rolled up the window through which he'd just passed. "What're you doin' here?"

"I didn't have nothin' better to do," he grinned, just as Luke's left hand reached across and grabbed a fistful of Bo's soggy t-shirt.

"That's what I told you!" Luke hollered, exasperated. Bo tried, in vain, to make his strong cousin turn him loose. Seeing little progress with that effort, the taller boy wrapped his right arm around Luke's head, trying to pin his muscular cousin to his chest.

What passed for an all-out wrestling match ensued. The cramped space in the vehicle limited both boys' mobility, frustrating them to no end. Finally, Luke released his cousin's t-shirt, now stretched and twisted out of shape, and drew his left arm back, looking for a better purchase elsewhere. Whatever his intentions were, they were instantly forgotten as his elbow hit the inner ring of the steering wheel and the Duke boys were serenaded by the opening notes of _Dixie_.

With a snort, Luke stopped struggling, and before he knew what had happened, he and his cousin were paralyzed by fits of laughter. Heads thrown back and mouths wide, the boys might have appeared to be caught in the throes of some kind of a symbiotic fit, had there been witnesses. But by now the rain was so heavy that there was no pedestrian traffic left on the sidewalks of Capitol City. Besides, the recently closed windows of the General Lee were covered in a fine layer of steam, evidence of the wet boys' efforts to teach one another a lesson.

Finally Luke's laughter abated enough that he could hear the rain splattering the roof of the car, reminding him of why he was there.

"Cousin," he commented. "Sometimes I think Jesse has a point."

"Which point is that? The one where you're stubborn as an ox, and I'm your poor, long-suffering, cousin?"

Luke's face twisted into a shape that anyone but Bo would have thought was angry. The blonde knew better; his cousin was amused.

"Nope, I never heard him make exactly that point." Luke punctuated his words with a little 'love tap' to his cousin's shoulder. "I was talkin' about these here doors."

"You welded 'em shut yourself, cuz," Bo reminded him with a grin.

"I know it. And them bein' solid like that has probably saved us more times than we know, what with you behind the wheel." A smirk passed easily from the driver's side to the passenger side of the race car.

"You don't exactly put a ton of 'granny go to church miles' on the old General here, neither, Luke."

"Nope, I guess not. Anyways, these doors save us, but everywhere we go, we got to leave the windows open so's we can get in and out."

"An' anytime we're in town or someplace where there ain't no place to get him under a roof, an' it starts to rain, you try to trick me into bein' the one that comes back an' sits here with the windows closed until it lets up, so we don't wind up with a ton of water inside." Bo paused and looked directly into his cousin's eyes. "I'm just tired of it, Luke. He's your car too, you know."

"Funny, you don' go remindin' me of that when you want to drive him, cousin."

"Hmph." Bo affected annoyance at the older boy for out-talking him once again, but in truth he was proud of Luke's ability to do that. Often enough, it had saved the cousins from a left hook or a night in jail.

"All right, all right. We're both here now with nothin' to do but sit and wait. We ain't gettin' nowheres arguin' anyway. Might as well think of something better to do." Luke's logical side was another thing that Bo admired in his cousin. Sure, it made the older boy less fun sometimes, but Bo usually didn't mind that, not if it kept them from getting shot at from time to time.

"All right, cuz," Bo said with a mischievous smirk. "Truth or dare."

Luke's lips turned just slightly upward at the memories of a game they hadn't played since childhood. The older of the boys was surprised that Bo would start it, though. As far as Luke could remember, the blonde hadn't fared well the last time they'd played, when Luke had dared him to walk the crossbeam in the barn. Bo had gotten himself out over that open space, confident and grinning. Luke didn't doubt that the younger boy would make it. He'd seen this aspect in Bo since the blonde had toddled his first steps as a baby. The kid could do things that no one expected him to, simply because he believed he could.

But Daisy, ever maternal and a worrier about her cousins' safety, had hollered, "Be careful, Bo! You could fall!"

Suggestible – well, the was one word to describe the youngest of the Duke cousins, especially when he was small. By taking his eyes away from his destination and looking down for only a heartbeat or two, Bo invited gravity to grab hold of him and perform its only trick: pulling him down.

"Bo!" Luke had shouted, seeing the youngster's balance falter. The older Duke boy was helpless, however, standing in the loft where Bo had begun this feat of daring. The blonde was too far away for his big cousin to reach, but that didn't stop Bo from hoping that he would somehow manage to anyway.

"Luke!" his trusting younger cousin had echoed, as he'd tried to turn back towards the brunette. All of this happened in just a few seconds, as Bo flailed, but there was no way to keep gravity from claiming her victim. As he began to go down, Bo grabbed for the beam, a move that both cost him and saved him. While he managed to catch the four-by-four with his hands, he also caught it with his chin, simultaneously opening a laceration and rattling his brains. Still, with all his strength, Bo held to that board.

"Hang on, cousin," Luke had called, crawling onto the crossbeam, laying on his belly and hooking his ankles around a diagonal support. The bigger boy reached for his cousin, who thankfully had not experienced much of a growth spurt yet, and so was comparatively light. Luke was able to stretch out to his right and slide his arms below Bo's own, clasping his hands behind the hurt and frightened boy's back. With a great deal of effort from both of them, Luke managed to pull Bo up, rather than letting him drop. For a few tense moments, though, it had seemed like more than either of them was capable of.

Later that night, after a trip into town to get his little cousin's chin stitched up by old Doc Petticord, Luke had accepted Jesse's punishment without complaint. The Duke children had been raised with even doses of gentle patience and a firm hand, and Luke had known the latter was coming at him from the moment he'd explained the origin of Bo's injury to the man that had raised them. The oldest cousin hadn't bothered to tell Jesse that no physical punishment could ever hurt him as much as that moment in the loft when Bo had called out his name with unquestioning faith, and Luke had been powerless to help.

Years later, Luke would receive his own chin injury, which, unlike Bo's, would leave a visible scar. The blonde always joked that Luke had felt so guilty about Bo's childhood laceration that he'd gone and gotten a matching one himself. There were days when the older boy thought that might just be true.

Pulling himself out of his memories, Luke regarded his "little cousin." This was no scrawny kid, not anymore. Somewhere in the last dozen or so years since their ill-fated game of "truth or dare," Bo had grown taller than his older cousin, and filled out quite a bit as well. Luke was still stronger, and probably always would be, but the blonde could certainly hold his own, now.

"Dare," Luke finally answered, eliciting a smirk from his cousin. There had never been any doubt as to which option the Marine would choose. Though he was ultimately very honest, Luke would never actively choose "truth," knowing it meant he would have to reveal something private.

"Okay, cousin, I dare you to tell the truth," Bo challenged, favoring the older boy with a charming, if mischievous, smile.

"You cheat," Luke responded, the look in his eyes half-miffed. Obviously, Bo had gotten better at this game since they'd last played.

"It ain't cheatin'. I just outsmarted you, is all," Bo answered, knowing that nothing annoyed his older cousin more than having the tables turned on him like that.

For half a minute, another wrestling match threatened to break out right there in the front seat of the General, but instead, Luke's good-sported nature reasserted itself, and he let his lips turn upward just the slightest bit.

"All right, all right. What?" In reality, there was very little privacy between him and Bo anyway. Luke didn't care much for spilling his guts, but Bo pretty much already knew everything there was to know.

"What are we really doin' here in Capitol City, anyways?"

Except that. It wasn't that big of a secret, really. Just awkward in the telling.

"No special reason," Luke bluffed, knowing he was just stalling.

Bo ought to have been angry, but he had learned a trick or two from his oldest cousin. Swallowing the waterfall of complaints that wanted to pour from his lips, the blonde just sat back and put his hands behind his head, whistling tunelessly. Arguing with Luke would take hours before the youngster could break his resolve. Making it clear that he had all day to wait for his cousin to come clean would force Luke's hand.

"It ain't no big deal, Bo…"

The blonde kept whistling, forcing himself not to say a word, though there were many that wanted to come tumbling out.

"There's just some stuff you can't get in Hazzard." The older cousin acted like he was done explaining.

Luke couldn't be out waited, at least not by Bo. Whistles turned to words as Bo's lips changed configuration without their owner's permission.

"We ain't exactly parked near the auto-parts store, cousin."

"Very observant. Can't put nothin' by you." Luke hoped his sarcasm would discourage Bo, or at least distract him, but the bulldog inside his cousin prevailed. Instead of annoyance, the younger boy's face broke out into a wide grin.

"What's her name?"

Luke grimaced. Had it been a young lady, as Bo assumed, it wouldn't have been so awkward.

"It ain't a girl. Shoot, cousin, if it was, do you think I could get away with only coming like once a month and staying for just a little while?"

The blonde's grin stayed put. If anyone could get away with something like that, it would be Luke. But, Bo had to admit, even Luke's smooth talking, laid back, blue eyed charm wouldn't keep a girl interested if he showed up so infrequently. And he sure couldn't be spending any real time with anyone when the boys came here, seeing as Bo would be sent on only an hour-long errand each time.

"Lukas," Bo said, trading on the only thing he had left – the only thing he'd ever really had – the closeness that the two boys had always shared. "Talk to me."

With a sigh, Luke gave in to the inevitable. Pointing vaguely up the main drag in front of them, he said, "That."

Squinting in the direction that Luke's forefinger seemed to be aimed, Bo said, "Ain't nothing much up there, except apartments and the dry-goods store." The blonde knew it couldn't be that. No Duke man shopped, not without Daisy there holding him hostage with the threat of salt in his coffee and starch in his shorts. "And that 'Taste of Asia' restaurant. Remember, when we was little, how we used to joke that 'kung pao' was a sound out of one of one of Enos' comic books? Kung Pao!" Bo interjected, much as he would have at the age of ten.

Sighing, Luke rolled down the car window for some fresh air, not thinking about what it meant that he was able to do so. His mind was too busy struggling over how to make Bo understand.

"And then, we used to say, what part of the bull does the bulgoki come from?" The younger cousin giggled, also oblivious to the clearing skies.

"It's Korean, Bo."

"Huh?"

"Bulgoki," Luke said, pronouncing it differently than they had as children. "It's Korean, and what it's made with is just sirloin steak."

"You've had it?" Indigo eyes betrayed astonishment.

"Yeah, it's okay," Luke admitted. "But what I come here for is the Vietnamese food. Banh Chung."

"What?" Bo didn't mean to sound like he was criticizing Luke. Mostly he was trying to figure out what his cousin had said. What had just come out of his mouth had sounded like, well Vietnamese, to the blonde.

Luke winced, expecting to have to justify things that couldn't really be justified. His tone was hurt. "Yeah, Bo, I like Vietnamese food, all right? Not everything over there was awful. Some things were okay, and the food – I liked it, okay?"

"Easy, cuz. I ain't gonna say I ain't surprised, but it ain't like I'm mad at you for it or nothin'."

Releasing more pent up tension than he'd known he had inside of him, Luke leaned back in the driver's seat and closed his brilliant blue eyes. Suddenly, he found himself talking about things he'd never before told anyone who'd been stateside during the war.

"We'd get short leave sometimes, you know? Not much, but sometimes, like a twelve hour pass, or maybe two days in Saigon. And you made the best of those times, pretending there was no war, like you was just visiting some city somewheres or something. And… the best part was the food. You ate so many 'mystery meals' in the service. But in the city, you could get real food. It wasn't like home cookin' or nothin', but it was so much better than the mess hall." Luke shrugged, opening his eyes. "I liked it. An' the names – they ain't as funny when you know how they're really pronounced. Or when you know what they mean."

Bo stayed silent. If Luke was aware of what he was saying, he might stop talking. The things Bo had learned about his cousin's experiences in the war had always come from unguarded moments like this, when Luke just talked without thinking quite so much as he usually did.

"Saigon, well, there were all kinds of things there that you just don't see here." Suddenly, Luke came back to himself. He'd been about to say something about the availability of women in the city, and he sure didn't want to get into that discussion with his youngest cousin. Bo knew about Miss Mabel, the mobile madam, who sometimes set up camp in Hazzard. He didn't need to know that in Saigon, Miss Mabel would have been one of hundreds of madams, running houses that the Marines visited often.

"Come on, Bo," the brunette said, starting the General's engine. "Rain's stopped. We might as well go back home."

Before Luke could put the race car into gear, Bo stretched his long left arm over to turn the key back to the off position.

"We ain't done what you came to do yet, cousin. Come on," he said, rolling down his own window.

More embarrassed than he'd been in a while, Luke shook his head. "Nah, you don't want to eat Vietnamese food."

"Yeah, cuz, I do. Luke," Bo said, looking his cousin square in the eye. "We was just kids when we made fun of the names. We didn't know no better. If you like it, I want to try it."

After a moment of searching midnight eyes and seeing the earnestness there, the older boy nodded. "Okay. But take it easy. Don't go scarfing it down like you would at home. It's got some spices in there that you ain't used to."

With a look of mock-hurt, Bo pulled himself up and out of General's window. Doing the same on the driver's side, Luke came out slowly and awkwardly.

"I'll never know how you get out of this side of the car, Bo."

"It's easy. This is the side that's hard to get into and out of."

Shaking their heads, the boys came together on the sidewalk, and with a smooth gesture born of frequent habit, Bo slipped an arm across his cousin's shoulders in casual companionship. The first half block towards the restaurant was walked in silence, then Luke suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, it's my turn!" In response to Bo's quizzically raised eyebrow he said, "Truth or dare?"

His voice an audible smile, Bo answered, "Dare."

"I dare you to ask the waitress what part of the bull the bulgoki comes from!"

With a shared laugh and the beginnings of a debate about which of them would get a date with the waitress by the end of the meal, the Duke boys strolled towards Luke's no-longer-secret, no-longer-guilty, pleasure in Capitol City.


End file.
